Notre Dame Looking at Gilchrist

Jeff Baumhower

03/27/2006

Marcus Gilchrist of T. Wingate Andrews high school (High Point, NC) is a dynamic player on both sides of the football. He's one of the top players in the state of North Carolina and the Irish among several top schools that have strong interest in him.

Notre Dame recently missed out on cornerback prospect Gary Gray of South Carolina, so the Irish staff will be looking at tendering a scholarship offer to another defensive back prospect. One player that has been on Notre Dame's radar is Marcus Gilchrist (5-11, 175 pounds) and he recently spoke to the Irish coaching staff for the first time.

"I talked to one of their coaches," Gilchrist responded when asked if the Irish coaches had been in touch with him. "He said all the coaches had watched my film and they liked it. The only coach that hadn't seen my film was coach Weis. He [Weis] is supposed to look at it, so that is where they are."

Academics, a strong coaching staff and the ability to play early are important factors in Gilchrist's decision. Notre Dame offers all of those ingredients to prospective student-athletes, but Gilchrist isn't at a point where he is narrowing down his list of schools.

Gilchrist recently added offers from South Carolina and Florida to go along with his scholarship offers from North Carolina, Duke, Clemson, and North Carolina State.

"They're up there with all the others schools I'm considering," Gilchrist said of Notre Dame. "I haven't begun to think about that yet. Coming up, I'll talk it over with my parents and go from there."

Gilchrist will not only have to talk about which school he wants to attend, but he'll also have to decide which sport he wants to play in college. Marcus is not only a Division I football prospect, but he also is getting looks as a basketball player.

"Not yet," Gilchrist replied when asked if he had made a decision to play football or basketball. "I'm not sure when I'll do that, but I want to know what I want to do by the end of the summer."

As a junior, Gilchrist accumulated 12 all-purpose touchdowns (four kick returns, three punt returns, two interceptions, one reception, and two rushing). He also picked off 11 passes on defense and recorded 40 tackles.